You kindly offered to lend us Kiwi,
But only for awhile,
You said to love her every day,
And You would make her smile.

We answered ‘Yes’ and loved her so,
And ran along the beach,
We never left her all alone,
We kept her close, in reach.

We gave our Kiwi all our love,
No effort was too great,
We understood the time would pass
And did not spare a treat.

We knew that we would mourn for her.
Someday, we’d see her sleep.
But You had always cared for us,
It couldn’t hurt this deep?

You said that Kiwi would someday,
Return to be with You,
But never thought the time would come,
So quickly, so sudden, so soon.

Much earlier than we ever planned,
You came to take her home,
We loved her so, and You understand,
The bitter grief that comes.

We told you, Lord, and often said,
“Not ours, Thy will be done”
But when You took her, we then learned,
The risk of grief we had run.

But thank you for the time we had,
With our darling little love.
We’ll dry our tears and won’t be sad,
For now she’s safe above.

— Sam from Rancho Santa Fe, CA

When our neighbors moved they very kindly asked me to take their dog -a little mutt of a standard daschund that I had played with for hours while working in our yard since she was a puppy. Of course, I agreed and we got everything set and all was well. Then, she was hit by a car and seriously injured. The car never slowed down or stopped, even though it happened right in front of our house.
During her lengthy recovery period, “Brownie” and I formed a very strong bond and it was as if we could literally look at each other and somehow communicate. She was a wonderful little companion and was just like a little member of the family with her loyalty and great sense of mischief. We were blessed with her company for 19 years. She passed 7 years ago and I still miss her so much.
It’s great to have a loving animal in your life, but when your pet allows you to come into it’s life, it is a wonderful blessing.

— Ken from Oliver Springs, TN

We have had golden retrievers for the past 35 years (8 so far). Dogs have always been an integral part of our family’s life. For the past 10 years I have been involved in Animal Assisted Therapy at Edward Hospital in Naperville, IL. It has been the most rewarding thing I have ever been involved with. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to be part of this wonderful program. So far I have had three dogs as Therapy Dogs; Spud, Becky and JackieO. I always knew how much my comforted me over the years, especially with the unexpected death of my husband, and now I have seen the magic they bring to sick patients in the hospital. The visitors and doctors and nurses love it just as much. There’s nothing like seeing a patients reaction when they see the dog at the door to visit them. I highly recommend this kind of volunteering in your community. It’s like nothing else you can do with your best friend.

— Wendy from Naperville, IL

My best buddy Moki was killed by a heavy piece of farm equipment. It was quick and he didn’t suffer at all. I on the other hand cried for a month and still miss my 4 1/2 year old Border collie mix. I have found that the best medicine for this is to get another buddy as soon as possible. There is something about a pup chewing and peeing on stuff that distracts and heals the soul. My replacement dog is another Border Collie mix named Ruger. He is just what the doctor ordered. He is great at working cows and finds shed antlers from hundreds of yard away. He is actually smarter than Moki was although I would give anything to have them both, we would make a good team.

–Orlin from Naturita, CO

She was the dog my children had when they were little, their first puppy. I have had the honor of being with her, training her, and caring for her every day since we brought her home. She was a Tibetan terrier, a very calm, affectionate breed, with a bit of a “herding” instinct. She followed me everywhere I went in the house. I could always feel her slight touch with her nose, her little “tap” to let me know she was near. There are some dogs who “smile” with their teeth and mouth. She did. Never once, ever, all her life, did I ever have to raise my voice to her. She was so eager to please, she always just seemed to know the right thing to do.

She was such a mellow dog she would let my daughters bundle her floppy ears into a pony tail holder above her head, put a little “tutu” around her waist, tote her around in a backpack, roll her in a babystroller or tuck her into a crib. For all that friendliness, she was a vigilant watchdog with an unerring sense for character. If she didn’t trust someone, we learned over time, they weren’t trustworthy.

There is more about my dog and the role she played in my life. All of it is too personal and painful for here. Some times in your life, there may seem to be no one but your very own dog whom you can trust and count on for unconditional love. Countless times, she licked my tears away until the last one was gone, even this weekend, when she had so little energy left.

The “Hail Mary” two-pronged approach to attack either her tick-borne disease or lymphoma did not work over the course of 3 days. She had several good hours after she got her blood transfused, but her platelets did not rebound so she kept bleeding internally. While she felt good temporarily with her “fresh blood” for a few hours yesterday, she walked and played in her back yard with the other dogs. I was able to take lots of pictures and videos of her. She seemed very happy. But something was attacking her system and killed her platelets and clotting ability. Our last day together was “borrowed” time.

I am taking in my other dogs to run tick-titer blood panels. If any of them shows even a slight indication of exposure, what you do is put them on 3 weeks of doxycycline to kill the Lyme or whichever of 4 tick-borne diseases. My dog who died tested slightly positive this week for Erlichiosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. I live in a woodsy area with many deer, wild turkey, skunk, raccoon, possum, and quail. For anyone who lives in a wooded area or with lots of deer, being vigilant about tick disease is pretty important. It could be that my dog had a tick bite a long time ago that caused a chronic infection that eventually caused an auto immune reaction. We will never know for sure. She had some symptoms: a little stiff-jointed in the mornings, a lump in her neck lymph gland for about a month. I pass along these details so that they might be helpful to others.

It is only a little comfort, but I know that I did everything possible to keep her in a good quality of life. In her last days, she needed a lot of care, which I was happy to give in gratitude to all the years she gave me. She didn’t have a lot of pain, but was weak at the end. When it was time, we were face-to-face as the last light left her beautiful eyes. She even had ….that little “smile.”

— Jane from Walnut Creek, CA

My best friend Sarge (my 12 year old German Shepard) passed away today this A.M. I trained him and at times I think he trained me,doesn’t matter we were best buddies. Whether we took a nap in the hammock under the oak trees, or he was under the car with me that I was working on. Sarge was also our baby sitter when my kids were out and about on our land, never had to worry he was right there watching over them. I could write a novel about him. However this morning, I told him I was on the way to get him some cookies at the store. Upon my return I called him he didn’t come to me. I went around back and he was sleeping under the oak trees. At this time in his life I called him “old dude”, when i did he never responded, he had passed on right there under the oaks. I sat down and put him in my lap and cried like a baby. It tore my heart out knowing he wasn’t going to wag his tail or give me a kiss anymore. My goodness God just took my best friend in the whole world. I know God had a reason and I’m not upset with the lord, I love him too much. Sarge didn’t suffer or loose any of his senses, so I’m happy for that. This has hit me like the day I was told my wife was diagnosed with cancer and had 4 months to live, tops. The parting of my best friends makes the rest of the worlds problems don’t amount to a hill of beans. Thanks for this forum Mark, and keep the fire lit on the political front. Sargent my buddy I will miss you terribly, when I think of you it will be a smile that comes to my face, and I pray you are in heaven with your mother.

— Michael from Macomb, MI